It's Just Another Day
by Alex Snape
Summary: It may just be another day...but it means a lot to Harley. Another random one...FLUFF! My first T rated fic! What! For one utterance of a swear, ha! Nolanverse Joker and Harley.


Harley sat impatiently on the edge of the sofa and stared at the television. Her favorite late-night talk show was blaring at her in the dim light of the sitting area of their home, and she was cupping her mug of hot tea in her hands. She glanced at the time on her cell phone and saw that it was almost ten o clock.

She sighed. He had forgotten. Even though she had talked about it all week long. She had made sure he wouldn't forget, too.

_"You know what Friday is, right, Puddin'?" she had said._

_"Hmm..." The Joker thought. "Memorial Day?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "No! You know what day it'll be!"_

_"Oh yeah...Yom Kippur?"_

_"No!" she exclaimed._

_"Festivus?"_

Harley shook her head as she remembered and furrowed her brow, disgruntled.

Not even a phone call to say he would be late or that he was on his way. Just her growing anger and disappointment and Conan O'Brien cracking jokes.

She sniffed and mumbled to the late-night host, "At least _you're_ here to keep me company..."

Why did she always fall for his promises? He hardly kept them; always thinking of where _he_ needed to be, what _he_ needed to do. It seemed in the few months they had been together that he never had time for her. All of his free time was spent in his study and she never went in there. It smelled heavily of glue and markers, and he usually was tinkering with a detonator and never wanted to be disturbed...unless he needed _her_ to do something for _him_.

It was always about him. Whether at home or on a job, she came second. She was an afterthought. Harley couldn't get too involved in his scheming against the Mob or even The Bat. She concluded it was because he was greedy, that he wanted all the credit.

She shrugged. And why not? Her Puddin' was very clever and it was only best that he -

"There you go again!" Harley groaned to herself. "You always agree with him! You're such a push-over!"

She leaned forward and placed her mug on the coffee table, then she set her face in her hands. She was a sad sight, waiting up for him on the hopes that he would return soon and pay attention to her. He had said that he would spend time with her tonight, that he wouldn't let work get in the way.

This was her night and he didn't seem to care.

Harley raised her head up with a gasp. Maybe The Bat caught him and he was on his way to Arkham! Her heart began to pound as she fumbled for the remote that was hidden underneath her magazines on the table, but she sighed with relief when she changed the channel and saw no breaking news that would detail it.

She had to admit, though, that she was slightly disappointed. If he had been thrown into Arkham again, then maybe she wouldn't be so mad about him not coming home on time and forgive him.

However, since he was just being inconsiderate of her...as always...she threw the remote onto the table and leaned back into the sofa, her arms crossed tightly against her chest.

Harley glanced at the clock. Ten-thirty. Only an hour and a half till the day would be over and this very thought brought tears to her eyes, but she sniffed hard to rein them back.

Another hour passed. Eleven-thirty.

"He's such a bastard," she choked under her breath.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of the front door slowly opening and she rolled her eyes.

He was sneaking in, possibly hoping that she was in bed by now.

The Joker looked at her from the door and, although the den was dark, the glare of the TV upon Harley's face let him know of her present mood. He licked his lips and slowly stepped forward to the kitchen area, and Harley listened as he took off his coat and sighed.

She bit her lip. He had forgotten, and she knew that he would try to play it off by throwing a bit of charm her way, maybe somehow coax her to the bedroom where he could let their love-making patch things up between them. That all would be forgiven.

Not this time, Harley thought to herself.

"Evening, precious," came his low voice as he circled around the sofa and sat next to her.

She just stared at the television, not answering him. She was going to make sure that he knew how she felt.

"I said...evening..." he told her, eyeing her. He raised an eyebrow when he didn't get a response, so he cleared his throat and said, sarcastically, "I know you missed me, baby girl, but...you don't have to talk my ear off..."

He looked see if that lightened her mood, but her face remained stern. He turned his attention to the TV and reached for the remote, saying, "Mind if I change it?"

Harley abruptly jumped to her feet and glared at him, shouting, "Do what you want! You always do!"

The Joker's eyes widened in surprise, but changed the channel all the same, leaning back and propping his feet on the coffee table. "Um...okay..."

Harley growled in frustration and stomped away toward the stairs, but stopped when she heard him growl back, "Harley! Get back here!"

She hesitated; she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of obeying him, but a part of her didn't want to completely ruin the night any further.

She pivoted on her heels and softly walked back to him, sitting quietly beside him. She folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them as he spoke, "What's with the vocals, baby? You know better than that..."

Harley sniffed as she replied, "You...you forgot..."

He sat up straighter and put down the remote as he licked his lips. "Did I, now?"

She nodded. "You promised...you would spend time with me...tonight...this night...and the day is almost over."

He looked at his pocket watch. "Well...we still have fifteen minutes, Harley."

She brought her eyes to him and caught his grin as he leaned back again and extended his arm. Harley bit her lip as she forced herself to settle into his side as he brought down his arm around her waist.

They were silent as they watched the rest of Harley's late-night show, Harley feeling the warmth of his body and smelling the sweat and gunpowder in his shirt. The Joker merely scratched his temple with the remote control as the thumb of his other hand stroked Harley's side over her tank top.

She quickly cut her glance to the big clock on the wall, but The Joker caught her and looked at the time, as well.

Seven minutes to midnight.

He took a deep breath as he shifted in his seat, setting down the remote and reaching into the pocket of his pants. "Here," he said, simply, as he handed her a piece of paper.

Harley gave him a confused look when she took it from him. He motioned to her, saying, "Read it..."

She gave him a small smile, then recited the words that looked as if they were scribbled in haste, "Harley: Roses are red...and on an unrelated note, you've got a really nice ass."

Harley pursed her lips as she tried to resist the big smile that was threatening to sneak onto her livid expression. However, it was no use when she read the 'love note' a second time, and her smile grew wide as she began to laugh out loud.

The Joker chuckled. "It's from the heart," he stated.

She looked at him, his darks eyes glinting with amusement as she continued to laugh. "Oh, Puddin'..." she said, wiping the tear that escaped onto her cheek. "It's, uh...it's very nice...haha!"

"What's with the tears?" he asked, wiping away another that had splashed onto her skin, the cool leather of his gloves making her whimper in embarrassment.

"I...I thought you had forgotten..." she said, softly. "You had said that you would be back before the day was over...to spend some time with me."

He looked around and shrugged. "I'm here, aren't I?" He grinned when she nodded. "I didn't forget after all..." He reached into his other pocket and brought out a black rectangular box and smiled when she gave him a surprised look. "See?" he told her as she took it from him.

Harley opened the box and gasped. "Oh...Daddy!" She took out the gold chain that held a small 'H' pendant. "It's so pretty...thank you so much..."

Harley quickly put it on and smiled as she saw how perfect it looked against her skin. "I love it..." she whispered to him before he leaned in and gave her a sensual kiss.

When he pulled away, he settled back into the couch and Harley returned to his side, his arm once again around her waist. She played with the pendant as they both resumed their television program.

She soon shifted herself and put her head on his shoulder, and he moved his hand to stroke her hair. He looked at the clock on the wall again.

Eleven fifty-nine.

"Happy birthday, Harley Baby," he whispered as he changed it to the midnight news.


End file.
